12.21.2007

Harris to Eliminate Middle-School

Her new plan will put sixth graders in with elementary and 7th & 8th graders in with high school.

Checking the comments section at dispatch.com makes me realize I'm not alone in thinking this is a bad idea. I am not as far removed from high school and middle school as Harris is and thinking back to those days of middle school mayhem, no way would I have wanted to be housed in the same building as high school kids.

Seventh and eighth graders are not emotionally or even physically ready for high school. Harris states that it will save money. Well letting eighth graders teach first grade would save money - payment in nachos and video games - but it doesn't make much sense either.

I'm just wondering - is it strange that Columbus can come up with money to build new arenas and transform the former Big Bear warehouse, oh and let's not forget the millions it took to fix the archway in Short North, but comes up with a bootleg solution to funding for schools? Let's stop using the album cover to sweep up the dirt, there are better solutions.

Harris says it will also stop kids from dropping out during the transition from junior high to high school and will help parents get involved in their kids' schools because they'll be able to form a relationship.

Kids who are going to drop out in transition need more support than just sticking them in the same school with adults in training. And parents who are going to be involved are involved from day one. They don't decide in the 3rd year of a six year tenure at high school to suddenly show up for a parent-teacher conference. Here's how adults form relationships with those involved with their kids: "Hi, I'm lil' Mary's mom. Anyway I can help in the classroom? How's she doing in Algebra?" There are more serious, in depth solutions to the problems of school drop-outs and uninvolved parents.

Blanket solutions don't work, especially this one.

3 comments:

Jason Gonzales said...

I was shocked to read this too.

My first thought was that it was a bad idea. But like the decision to shorten the school day and eliminate many non-essential classes, it is a desperation move in reaction to shrinking enrollment and funds.

I am a former CPS High School teacher who was laid off two years ago. When I was laid off, the conversation in CPS was that the drastic layoffs and shorter school day would surely start riots in the streets. We inferred that Harris, et al had done this to engage the electorate for yet another levy. Well, there was no riot. There was barely any grumbling. People just leave for suburbs and charter schools. This is how the current political climate encourages citizens to vote, (with money rather than democratic means) and the consequences are complicated.
So the enrollment and funding decrease further. Thus the decision we are now talking about.

As it happens I now teach at a charter (along the way I also taught at a private school). It is a good school and we get a fair number of kids who would have been in CPS.

Though I still have a strong commitment to public educations I continually struggle with these questions:

Is CPS too big to react to the rapid changes in education and this city?

Can the city of Columbus legally do anything to increase the funding to its city schools short of property tax levies? I don't think so. This is further evidence that the school funding system in Ohio is destructive, unethical and unjust.

CPS keeps shrinking and drawing itself in. Can Columbus make the whole PK-12 thing work? How many upper middle class people would like their first grader in the same building as 12th graders?

Why does CPS still run yellow buses? The money they spend on yellow buses could surely be used better with COTA bus passes and quality staff.

When will the teachers union restructure their pay scale so that it is not so disproportionate? New teachers struggle for three years at fairly meager pay of $36-37,000 while older teachers pull in well over double this.

Thanks for the conversation starter.

--Jason

Terreece M. Clarke said...

Jason,
Thanks for your great comments. Often it's the parents that are vocal, but it is really important to get the perspective of someone right there in the thick of the foolishness.

Anonymous said...

My personal opinion of middle schools (in general, since I'm writing from the West Coast) is that they should be eliminated, but that the 7th and 8th graders should be folded into the elementary school, not the high school. This opinion is based on my experience as a substitute teacher in Long Beach, CA where there is a variety of school structures (K-3, 4-5, K-5, K-6, K-8, 7-8, 6-8, 9-12, 10-12, etc.). I found that the 7th and 8th graders were much better behaved when kept in elementary school than when they had their own middle school or junior high school.